The next morning
Shikamaru was walking with Chouji and Kiba towards Naruto's apartment. Akamaru was running around them, first in front, then behind, then off to sniff something, then back in front, chasing a butterfly. Kiba smiled as he watched his friend play and run around joyfully. Chouji was eating a bag of chips. Shikamaru sighed. "How did I get talked into this again?" Kiba laughed. "As a chuunin, it is your responsibility to become stronger and stronger, in order to protect your subordinates." He said. Shikamaru looked up at the sky. "I don't mind training, I know that I need to get stronger, but why all together?" "It's more fun that way. Plus, you can train with other people in ways you can't alone." Kiba said as he caught Akamaru, who had jumped at his chest. Shikamaru sighed again. "But training with Naruto is so troublesome…"
The same time, just outside the village
Shino was standing very still. His eyes might have been closed, but it was impossible to tell from the front. He was concentrating his chakra, sending messages to the insects inhabiting his body, trying to get them to move as quickly as possible, when he felt a disturbance. "Hinata." It was not a question. Hinata walked towards him, looking at the ground around him, at the bugs that were swarming. After being with Shino on some many missions, she wasn't really disturbed by the bugs at all. "Shino-kun, you a very powerful ninja, right? For a genin?" Shino shifted his head so he was looking right at her. "Yes." There was no attempt to be modest about it, but it wasn't conceited either. It was just the truth. "If the Hokage ordered you to kill someone for the safety of the village, would you do it?" Shino looked at Hinata for a moment, then said again, "Yes." Hinata didn't look right at his face now. "What if it was a very close friend, someone who you cared very much for, and you knew they didn't want to do it, but something else was forcing them too." Shino waited even longer before answering this time, but when he did, it was not what Hinata expected. "Is this about the murders?" Hinata looked at Shino in surprise. Shino took a step towards her. "Do you know something, Hinata? You need to tell Hokage-sama right away." Hinata put up her hands, in an attempt to slow Shino down, both figuratively and literally. "I-It's okay Shino, it's not about the murders. It's about… friendship." Hinata didn't know how to elaborate after that. "About what it will take to betray a friend?" Shino asked. Hinata nodded. "Even if you know it's what needs to be done." she added.
"The solution is obvious. As the person you care for is being used, they are not the real source of the problem. You must find the source of the problem, and destroy it." Hinata looked back at Shino, then she smiled cheerfully. "Thanks, Shino-kun. You always have such good advice." Hinata started to walk away, but the Shino spoke again. "There are some situations, however, when even getting rid or the source is not enough. You may indeed have to kill a friend, if it comes down to it. If you aren't able to do it, then the problem continues, and now you're to blame as well, because you could have stopped it." Hinata stood still, then felt a tear run down her face. 'I could never kill Naruto-kun. But what if that thing inside him… What if the Kyuubi were to try to kill me?' Hinata continued to walk, but now her pace was slow and somber.
Outside the Hyuuga residence
"NEJI-SAN! I challenge you to a battle!" Neji turned around to se Lee jumping out of a tree onto the ground in front of him. "Lee, how long have you been in that tree?" Lee ignored the question and ran up the Neji, stopping short suddenly about two feet away. "Do you accept my challenge? Or will you sulk away like a coward?" A vein appeared in Neji's forehead, but he didn't allow himself to be swayed. "Lee, I have beaten you ever time we've fought. I know your style perfectly. I can get better training fighting with Hinata than with you." Lee jumped back about a foot. "You would dare to insult a young lady with such a noble heart as Hinata-chan? And she is your own cousin!" "She's way below my level right now – not," he added, "that she isn't improving. That's just how it is." Lee looked ready to explode. "Neji, I challenge you to a battle to protect the honor of Hinata-chan and every other beautiful and noble woman you have ever wronged!" Neji was getting quite annoyed. "I haven't wronged anybody, so just-" "THEN PROVE IT!" Lee cried. "This will not be a normal battle, however. I challenge you to a," Lee's eye gleamed, "Super-Mega-Battle of the Century!" There was silence for a moment, and then Neji said, "Lee, please stop talking now." Lee fell over. "Even if I wanted to fight you, I don't have the time. I promised Tenten that I'd practice with her today, and she'll be mad if I'm not there on time." Lee got up quickly. "It's not like you to help Tenten train in your spare time." Neji nodded. "But that murder on the loose, the one they're trying to track down, he killed a jounin. Normal ninja skills don't seem effective against him. And with all the scratch marks, it's obvious the murderer is a close combat fighter. Tenten wants me to help her with taijutsu training, just incase she gets caught off guard, without a weapon. Lee's jaw dropped. "Why would she ask you? I'm a master of taijutsu! She should be asking me!" Neji raised an eyebrow. "Except that every time we battle, I beat you." "That's different!" Lee cried. "You can use Byakugan and Rokujuyon! She can't!" Neji shrugged and kept walking. Lee ran to catch up with him. "I'll go too, and we can see which one of us is a better teacher!" Neji sighed. "Really Lee, I don't care." Suddenly Lee smiled his huge smile. "Neji-san?" "What?" "I'LL RACE YOU THERE!!!"
Outside the village
Hinata was walking aimlessly now. Shino's words echoed in her mind. You may indeed have to kill a friend, if it comes down to it. "I will not kill Naruto-kun. Even if I have the chance, I won't." If you aren't able to do it, then the problem continues, and now you're to blame as well, because you could have stopped it. "But I know that Naruto-kun can be saved. As long as there's anything left of him, he can overcome the Kyuubi. He just needs help. Hokage-sama could help him. She could bring him back to normal." Setting this as her goal, she set off, back towards the village. She had tried to get to Naruto's apartment earlier that day, but ANBU had stopped her from coming into the building. But looking at the village, she could still see ninjas jumping along the wall. If they were still searching, that meant he was still out there somewhere.
Splash!
Hinata spun around to see what had made the noise. At first, see couldn't see anything, so she used her Byakugan. She searched for a few moments before…. "Naruto-kun!?" She could see him, floating in a lake not very far away. At first she started walking towards him, then she realized that he would only be wearing swim shorts. She stopped short and cancelled her Byakugan. For a minute or two, Hinata was unsure about what to do, but finally she made up her mind that she had to go to him. He needed her help. She got close to wear the trees ended and hid behind one. She could see Naruto playing some sort of game, probably just invented, with some shadow clones of himself. She couldn't tell which was the real one, but none of them were glowing with red chakra. That was a good sign. Hinata watched the Narutos swimming around and playing quite contentedly for some time, until finally the clones disappeared. Naruto climbed out onto the shore of the lake, and shook himself off dog style. Hinata giggled. This reminded her of the days when she only knew Naruto from watching him, back before the Chuunin Exam. She realized that she wasn't sure whether she preferred watching Naruto, or interacting with Naruto, but then she remembered the time they had fought the giant bee. Afterwards, Naruto had called her awesome, and she remembered smiling and leaning her face against his arm. The memory made her blush, but it also made her realize that she had changed since interacting with Naruto, and it seemed to be a change for the better.
Naruto had put on his shirt, pants, and shoes, and had tied his jacket around his waist. He put his hands in his hair and shook it out a bit more, then turned towards the village and began walking. It was then that Hinata realized that she was directly in between Naruto and the entrance to the village. She started to panic. Naruto was getting closer every second, walking along humming to himself. Hinata jumped away as quickly as she could, but not very quietly. Naruto turned fast to where she had been. "Hey, who's there!" Hinata landed in a tree not too far away. Naruto heard the landing and jumped towards her. Hinata panicked completely and tried to escape as fast as she could. Naruto followed her as fast as he could. There speed was about even, but Hinata was being careless in her panic. She planted her foot on the next branch, but when she pushed off again, her foot slipped. Instead of flying forwards, she was flying towards the ground below her targeted branch. When she hit the ground, she curled her body into a ball to minimize the damage. She rolled up against a tree and lay there, leaning her back against the trunk, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Above her, she heard Naruto stop. She hoped he hadn't spotted her. Unfortunately, Naruto jumped down to the ground in front of Hinata, looking at her quizzically.
"Hinata-chan?" Naruto was visibly confused. He eyes were very squinted as he looked at her. "Were you spying on me?" Hinata tried to say something, but all that came out was, "Uh… I-er… um…" Naruto apparently decided that this was a yes. "Why were you doing that?" Hinata decided, while taking a few calming breathes, that it would be best to tell only part of the truth. "Naruto-kun… I… I came here to tell you that…" Naruto walked closer to Hinata and squatted down in front of her. His closeness did not go unnoticed by Hinata. "I can't quite tell what you're saying Hinata, could you speak up?" Hinata was beginning to blush. "I-I came looking for you, Naruto-kun." Naruto's eyes opened. "Why did you come looking for me?" About a hundred answers flew threw Hinata's mind, and she wanted to say every one of them, but she had to hold them in. She would probably faint if she tried to say them anyway. "You're in big trouble, Naruto-kun. You're not safe anymore."
The Bridge (Where Kakashi meets with his team sometimes)
Sakura was leaning her elbows on the railing looking down into the water, although she was obviously seeing something else. Ino was leaning against the railing, but she had her back on it, and was looking up at the sky. "So, why are we here again?" Ino asked, faintly annoyed. "This was the last place where I thought I might be able to find him. I've checked everywhere else, the ramen store, the training grounds, even the hospital, but I have no idea where he is." Ino looked at Sakura like she was crazy. "First off, why would you want to find that idiot? And second, why not try checking his house?" Sakura sighed. "He spends as little time as possible at home. It's not like it really has anything for him. His family is his friends." Ino looked back up at the sky. 'That's right. Poor Naruto…'
"Yo." Ino looked around to see Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba walk onto the bridge, with Akamaru following. "What're you all doing here?" Ino asked. Shikamaru spoke again. "We were just at Naruto's place, looking for him." Sakura turned her head hopefully. "Was he there?" Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't know, but there was a bunch of ANBU people there. Wouldn't let us in the building." Sakura pushed herself away from the railing. "Is Naruto okay?" Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't know." Kiba picked up Akamaru and placed him on his head. "The whole apartment building is blocked off, so there's no reason to believe that it has to do with Naruto. More likely than not, he's already down at the training fields, waiting for us." Sakura shook her head. "We were down there a while ago, and he wasn't there." Chouji stuck his hand in the bag of chips, but then pulled it out empty. "Maybe," he said, with a gleam in his eye, "he went to eat ramen!" Sakura shook her head. "We checked there, too." But Chouji was undaunted. "I better go double check." he said, beginning to walk away. "Chouji," Shikamaru said, "If you help us find Naruto, I'll treat you to ramen myself." Chouji stopped walking, then turned around and quickly walked back to the group. "Okay!" he said. "I still want to go check the training field. Just in case." Kiba nodded his head in that direction. Shikamaru nodded. "We'll go there first, and see what happens."
The Hokage's office
All the shinobi from last night were once again stuffed into the Fifth's office, plus some more. No one dared to get to close to Tsunade's desk, though. She was in an obviously bad mood. There was very little talking this time, and it was all done quietly. Finally Tsunade stood up. "I'm sure that by this point you have all heard about what happened to Kakashi and Gai. I'm also sure that you'll be happy to know that they only sustained minor injuries, and will both be out of hospital in a short period of time." There were a few sighs and words of relief, before silence again descended on the ninjas. "Unfortunately, the scrolls that Jiraiya left us have been proven ineffective. That cancels them out as an option. However, during the period of time in which the murders took place, Naruto still acted quite normal when we all saw him. The added fact that all the murders take place during the night leads myself and my collaborators to believe that the Kyuubi can only take control of Naruto under a certain set of circumstances. We suspected that the Kyuubi can take control of Naruto's body when he is asleep." She paused a moment to let it sink in. "Now, you're orders are these. Find Naruto. As soon as you find him, call for reinforcements. Avoid engaging if possible until they arrive. Any technique or poison used in him will wear off momentarily, so here is what you have to do." Tsunade leaned down on the desk. "Wait until Uzumaki Naruto is in control. Stay away from Kyuubi Naruto. Once Uzumaki is in control, capture him and bring him back here. Explain the situation to him if you think you have time, but the priority is to bring him back, awake. He will se what we can do for him. If he falls asleep, or is knocked unconscious, get away from him immediately. If there are too many lives at risk, kill him. It will be your call." Some people nodded wisely at the Hokage's decision, others shook there heads, and still others just looked a little pale. "Teams will be no smaller than three people." The ninjas nodded their understanding. Tsunade wanted to turn away from them, she wanted to close her eyes as she gave the order, but she couldn't afford to show a weakened resolve at this point. No matter what she felt, Naruto had become dangerous, and she couldn't let anyone see her waver, not when she was their support. A shadow came across the Hokage's face, darkening it. "Move out."
